


Mooning Over James

by beyondthesunset



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, jily, pre-Jily, werewolf stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2019-03-29 19:39:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13933905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beyondthesunset/pseuds/beyondthesunset
Summary: Lily definitely doesn't run straight to the hospital wing when James is hurt. No really. But once she is there, there are more occupied beds than she expected. A Lily finds out about Remus story.





	Mooning Over James

May 1977

 

Lily was having a late breakfast when it happened. She was listening to Marlene complain about charms when a voice saying “with Potter in the hospital wing” drifted over her shoulder, catching her attention. She turned involuntarily to follow the two fourth years as the settled into seats a little further down the Gryffindor table.

 

“Lily, you still with me?” asked Marlene snapping her back to attention.

 

“Yes, sorry, I’m listening,” Lily replied trying to tune out the conversation to her right, which seemed to now be about Quidditch anyway.   

 

Apparently she was not doing a good job looking untroubled. “What is it?” Marlene demanded.

 

“It’s… hold on.” Lily leaned down the table, “Excuse me?” The fourth year who had been speaking turned toward her. “What was that you said about James Potter?” Out of the corner of her eye Lily saw Marlene roll her eyes but she ignored it.

 

“Oh, if he’s still in the hospital wing next week then our chances against…”

 

“Since when is he in the hospital wing?” Lily asked, not really caring that she was interrupting.

 

“Just a bit ago. I was up there for a headache and they carried him in.” The fourth year seemed quite pleased to have such good gossip. “He looked pretty bad,” he said with some relish.

 

“Hmm,” Lily murmured noncommittally. She turned back to Marlene.

 

“You want to go check on him, don’t you?” Marlene asked.

 

“Maybe,” Lily found her voice was slightly higher than usual. “I mean, I am friends with that lot now.”

 

“Yeah, and I’m sure you would have this exact same reaction if it was Sirius Black,” Marlene sighed.

 

“I like Sirius,” Lily insisted, only half-listening. Her finger drummed lightly on the edge of the table.

 

Marlene looked at her for a moment. “Well, go on then. Maybe I’ll wander up that way later.”

 

Lily stood up and hurried out of the hall. She felt a surge of annoyance thinking of the casual way that the fourth year had talked about James being injured. It wasn’t something to be taken lightly. James was, well, James was something all right. He was funny and energetic and he was always very hopeful. That was something that she needed in her life right now. And the kid had said “he looked bad” like nothing. She felt herself breaking into a jog.

 

Lily took a few corridors at very nearly a full run. The way she was taking the turns it was lucky she didn’t bodily knock someone over, but fortunately she saw no one. As she approached the hospital wing she slowed to a quick walk and tried to control her breathing. A surge of embarrassment passed through her. If she busted into the hospital wing all red and sweaty and James was okay it would be apparent to him that she had run there. That felt like a dangerously embarrassing prospect to Lily. She avoided thinking about why.

 

Reaching the door of the hospital wing she could hear soft voices inside. She came to a stop and tried to collect herself. She smoothed down the front of her uniform robes, took a calming breath and stepped inside.

 

The hospital wing was largely deserted ten empty beds and one, down at the far end with a screen pulled around it. Just shy of the screen was a single occupied bed. She registered that the voices were coming from Sirius and Peter, talking softly near the head of the bed, but her eyes snapped immediately to James’ face. Even in the warm daylight rushing in from the high windows his face looked unnatural with odd blotches of color.

 

Lily heard herself make an odd little noise in the back of her throat at the sight. As she began to walk forward again Peter glanced up and then swatted Sirius’ arm and nodded toward her. She reached James’ face. It didn’t look much better up close but at least he appeared to be sleeping.

 

“Evans,” Sirius said in an oddly cautious voice.

 

“Is he okay?” Lily asked.

 

“That’s what they said. He should be awake soon,” said Sirius. Lily felt a spike of relief. She glanced up at Sirius and registered for the first time just how drained he looked. His face was sharply drawn and his eyes were a little red. He was no longer looking at her and seemed lost in thought. For a moment Lily felt like an intruder. James and Sirius were like brothers and whatever had happened had clearly been enough to really throw Sirius.

 

“What happened?” The question had slipped out of her mouth before she realized it was coming. There was an odd moment in which Peter glanced up at Sirius and Sirius said nothing. Lily realized, in a flash of sharp clarity, that she knew the face Peter was making. Peter was waiting to see what interesting lie Sirius would come up with. Sirius didn’t even look up. After a moment Peter turned back to face Lily.

 

“Well, you can’t tell people this, obviously, but we snuck out last night,” set Peter embarrassedly.

 

Lily sighed. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”  

 

“James managed to cut himself on a nail out at the greenhouse.

 

“And it did this to him?” asked Lily cautiously.

 

“He may have been accidentally pushed,” Peter allowed guardedly. For a moment Lily glanced up and Sirius’ drawn face and she felt a momentary flash of anger.

 

“I wish you lot would be more careful,” she snapped.

 

Sirius looked sharply in her direction. “We don’t always have the luxury of being as careful as you do,” he snapped with unexpected force.

 

“Well, excuse me for assuming that you messing around the greenhouses in the middle of the night was not somehow borne out of necessity,” Lily could see that Sirius felt awful but she was too angry to care at the moment. Sirius seemed at a loss for words for a moment and glanced in slight confusion between her and Peter.

 

“Look, maybe she’s right, Sirius, we didn’t have a very good reason to be sneaking around last night, huh?” For a moment Peter glared at Sirius, who was still blinking a bit stupidly. After a moment he collected himself.

 

“Yeah I guess you’re right,” he said in a defeated voice.

 

Lily felt her anger drain away as quick as it had come. Sirius really did look rather pathetic.

 

“He should be awake soon, they said,” Sirius muttered at her a bit lamely.

 

“Well, I’m glad he’s okay,” Lily muttered. After a moment Lily realized Sirius was peering at her. He almost looked like he had just totally realized she was there. For a moment a spark of mischief Lily was fairly used to flashed in his eye.

 

“Hey Evans, did you run up here? You were pretty out of breath when you came in.”

 

Lily felt suddenly hot. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Black.”

 

Apparently she wasn’t convincing. Sirius grinned at her. “So what brings you up here?”

 

“Well, I heard someone say that James was hurt,” she allowed cautiously.

 

“Overwhelmed with concern, were you?” Sirius asked lightly.

 

“Well sure, you lot are my friends,” said Lily defensively.

 

“Well, isn’t that sweet?” Sirius asked, elbowing Peter.

 

“Very nice,” he said.

 

“You’re an arsehole, Black,” muttered Lily.

 

“I didn’t know you were in good enough shape to run all the way up here,” said Sirius, suddenly seeming very earnest.

 

“I… Oh shut up,” Lily muttered, flustered by the sudden shift.

 

“I mean, I’ve never known you to be that active.”

 

“I had to stop and walk a few times,” Lily snapped. Sirius grinned and Peter let a slight snicker. There was also a third laugh. It came from Lily’s right, behind the privacy screen beyond James’ bed.

 

Lily felt her face heating up. It was embarrassing enough that Peter and Sirius knew that she had come running up here at the first word of James being injured. They were her friends after all, and if she knew one thing it was that the Marauders could keep a secret. But the last thing she needed was some random person finding out. She and James had a history of bickering very publicly and it she was being honest with herself (something she was trying to avoid at the moment), her feelings where he was concerned were extremely confusing at the moment. Lily had no desire for any of this to become gossip.

 

She glanced at the curtain and then back at Sirius and Peter to see if they had heard anything. For a moment when she looked up Lily saw Sirius smiling like an idiot at the curtain. But then he glanced at her and his face hardened a bit. Peter looked wide eyed between them. “Who’s there?” Lily asked cautiously.

 

There was a small sigh from behind the privacy screen and then a familiar voice said, “It’s just me. I’m decent if you want to come around.”

 

“Remus?” Lily said sticking her head around the screen. Remus was sitting up gingerly in the bed. He looked quite peaky. “I thought you were home visiting your mom?”

 

“I was,” said Remus quickly. He looked nervous and a flair of suspicion flashed through Lily. Saying he was visiting his family when he was actually in the hospital wing was odd.

 

“Remus, what happened to you?” Remus shifted uncomfortably in his seat and Lily suddenly felt bad. “Look, forget it okay? It’s none of my business,” Lily said suddenly. Remus smiled, looking properly relieved.

 

“So you couldn’t quite manage to run all the way up here, huh?” he asked with a sudden grin. Lily felt her cheeks heat up.

 

“Well, this castle’s got too many bloody stairs in it,” she muttered, figuring there was no point lying about this at the moment.

 

“He’s a great guy, our James,” said Sirius, suddenly at Lily’s shoulder, “Handsome, too.”

 

“I swear to god, Black,” Lily muttered.

 

“And he’s injured, poor guy,” said Peter at her other shoulder.

 

“Yeah you guys seem really concerned about all of this,” Lily muttered, glancing at Sirius who really did look much more at ease. “When I got up here, I thought you were worried about him, but it was all for Remus apparently. Bet James will love that when he wakes up.”

 

“Well, you can tell him all about it,” said Remus, smiling wickedly at her. Lily’s eyebrows flew up to her forehead. Sirius and Peter burst out laughing behind her.

 

“Good to have you back in it, Moony,” Sirius gasped through his laughter. Lily’s face was hot with embarrassment but she still managed to feel very fond. The Marauders and their dumb nicknames.

 

Lily’s brain did a thing sometimes where it just presented a conclusion to her and she was left to work out exactly why the thing she had just thought seemed to be true. At this moment, a thought leapt into Lily’s mind with perfect clarity. Remus Lupin is a werewolf. She tried to keep a neutral face while she scrambled back along her train of thought to see where it came from. She had been thinking of the nicknames. Moony, like a moon. That was exactly the kind of dumb joke James would come up with for a code name. She ignored the jump of fondness in her chest at that thought.

 

That wasn’t enough to go on. What else? The weird hospital stay. Remus didn’t look injured. He went home every month to see his sick mom, once a month like clockwork, but here he was in the hospital wing not wanting to explain why. Did he ever go home? It wasn’t proof but it was enough for suspicion.

 

“What’s up, Lily?” Lily shook her thoughts off and realized she was staring at Remus. He peered oddly up at her.

 

“Nothing, just worried about you,” Lily said quickly.

 

“I’m okay,” he replies tersely.

 

Good. Good,” Lily said, quickly trying to school her expressions. Remus had always been sharp, though. It was hard to fool him. He peered at her tensely for a long moment of unsaid things. A second later he broke eye contact and let out a long sigh.

 

“Just ask me,” he sounded resigned.

 

“I…” Lily glanced around. Sirius and Peter were watching the interaction intensely. Peter looked a bit scared but Sirius looked angry in a way Lily rarely saw. It scared her a bit.

 

“Go on,” said Remus a bit sharply. She looked back at him and was relieved to see him smile, small and tight but reassuring.

 

“Are you a werewolf?” Lily said the words as quickly as possible. The tension in the room snapped to new heights and Sirius stepped slightly toward the bed. He reached out and put his hand lightly on Remus’ shoulder.

 

“Yes I am.”

 

There was a long pregnant pause.

 

“Okay.”

 

“Okay?” Remus replied.

 

“Yeah,” said Lily. “I mean not great for you probably, but… okay.”

 

Remus smiled and Lily smiled back. She had always gotten on with Remus but this was deeply intimate in a way that felt new. A tension she had become extremely used to seem to drop out of his shoulders. He was smiling in a way he usually only smiled at the other Marauders. She felt her own smile widen.

 

“Such a wordsmith, Evans,” Sirius said breaking the moment. Peter laughed a relieved little titter. Lily glanced at them and felt her smile slipping. What had they been up to?

 

The laughter stopped and there was a small tense moment. Lily realized that Remus’ eyes were still on her. He looked a bit wary again, the tension slipping back into his shoulders while the silence deepened. He raised an eyebrow at her.

 

“Look I’m paw-sitive I’m all right with this,” Lily drew out the ‘paw’ syllable to get the joke across. The silence stretched across for a moment longer.

 

“Did you just…?” Remus looked at her incredulously.

 

“Well, I wanted you to stop mooning at me,” Lily replied, trying to keep her face straight. Sirius snorted.

 

“You know I’ve heard all of this before from James, right?” muttered Remus, but he was smiling a bit at the corners of his mouth.

 

“Remus, I know inside you’re howling with laughter,” Lily replied.

 

Peter and Sirius were openly laughing now, as much at the look at Remus’ face as anything, probably.

 

“What can I say Remus, I’m dogged when I get going,” Lily said apologetically.

 

“Are you guys doing werewolf puns without me? And me injured in the line of duty too,” said a weak voice from outside the screen. Lily’s heart jumped in her chest at the sound. She slipped past Sirius and Peter and back around the screen. James was looking blearily up at her.

 

“Lily,” his smile suddenly switched off and he covered his mouth. “Did I just say… what I meant was…”

 

It’s okay,” came Remus’ voice from behind the screen, “she figured it out. We’re good.”

 

James smiled up her looking relieved but also deeply fond in a way that made Lily a little nervous, but not in a bad way. “So you came up to visit Remus, then? After you figured it out?”

 

“No, she just worked it out just now,” said Sirius suddenly right at Lily’s shoulder, “she came running up here when she heard you were hurt.” He emphasized the word ‘running’ and Lily felt her cheeks heating up again. So much for the Marauders’ ability to keep a secret.

 

“Oh really? Mooning over me huh?” James grinned.

 

“I did that one already, you prat,” Lily snapped defiantly.

 

Peter spoke softly behind her. “To be fair, James has done all of them at some point in the last three years.”

 

“Yeah well, he had a head start,” Lily said without turning around. She couldn’t seem to stop staring at James.

 

“You two really are a pair,” muttered Sirius. Lily ignored this. James grinned hugely up at her and she could feel that her smile was just as big.

 

“Are they being obnoxious out there?” asked Remus from behind the curtain.

 

“You have no idea,” muttered Sirius, “It’s sickening.”

 

“Oh pack it in,” snapped Lily there was a pause and then three groans. Sirius elbowed her in the side but James burst out laughing. Lily could live with that, she figured.

 

Lily stayed in the hospital wing for the rest of the day, until James was allowed to check out before dinner. She spent most of the day sitting on James’ bed and ignoring pointed comments from Sirius. She forgot to wonder what the Marauders had been up to when James was injured until she was in bed that night. She wrote it off as them being full of mysteries and figured that as long as they were okay that was good enough for her, at least for now.


End file.
